For the first time in more than three decades, the NCAA Tournament will almost certainly not feature the Stanford Cardinal.
Stanford lost its first-round matchup of the ACC tournament to Clemson on Wednesday, 63-46, likely putting an end to its historic streak of NCAA Tournament appearances. The Cardinal owned the second-longest active streak of appearances in the Big Dance, having made the field 36 consecutive times since missing the tourney in 1987. Only Tennessee has a longer current run, at 42. Both streaks were paused in 2020 when the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The loss Wednesday was Stanford’s 14th on the season, and it dropped the Cardinal to 8-11 in conference play. Stanford (16-14) jumped out to a 6-0 lead over Clemson but trailed the rest of the game after the Tigers surged ahead late in the first quarter.
“We’re not going to let this one game define us or who we are,” coach Kate Paye said. “We’re hopeful we get to continue to play, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to be here today.”
The Cardinal are in a period of transition, with Paye taking over the program this season after Tara VanDerveer’s retirement last spring. VanDerveer had coached at Stanford for 38 seasons and was the NCAA’s all-time winningest coach at…
